UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA  Agriculture    Experiment  Station 

COLLEGE   OF  AGRICULTURE  BENJ-  'DE  WHECLER-  »•■•'•■«" 

THOMAS    FORSYTH    HUNT,   Dean  and   Director 

BERKELEY  H-  E-  VAN  norman,  vice-director  and  dean 

University    Farm    School 

CIRCULAR  No.  124 
(January,  1915) 

ALFALFA  SILAGE  FOR  FATTENING  STEERS 

BY 

GOKDON  II.  TEUE,  l\  W.  WOLL  and  V.  F.  DOLCINI 


While  many  experiments  have  been  conducted  with  regard  to  the  use 
of  Indian  corn  silage  in  feeding  fattening  steers,  but  little  is  known 
in  regard  to  the  value  of  other  silage  crops  for  cattle  feeding.  Since 
the  first  cutting  of  alfalfa  often  consists  largely  of  foxtail  and  other 
weeds,  and  in  that  case  makes  a  poor  quality  of  hay,  it  seemed  desirable 
to  secure  some  definite  information  as  to  the  use  of  this  crop  for 
silage  purposes.  One  of  the  stave  silos  at  the  University  Farm  was 
accordingly  filled  with  the  first  cutting  of  alfalfa  from  a  weedy  field, 
on  April  27th  to  May  3rd,  1914.  This  field  was  so  foul  with  weeds 
that  it  would  have  been  practically  valueless  for  hay,  the  foxtail  being 
nearly  ripe  and  the  beards  already  hard. 

A  mixed  lot  of  107  native  range  steers,  mostly  three  and  four 
year  olds,  was  purchased  for  the  experiment  last  summer  from  a 
foothill  ranch  near  Coyote,  California.  The  better  individuals  among 
the  steers  showed  some  evidence  of  Shorthorn,  Hereford  or  Devon 
blood,  but  on  the  whole  the  steers  were  rather  below  the  average  of 
California  range  cattle.  They  were  bought  at  6  cents  a  pound  on  foot 
with  a  3  per  cent  shrink,  and  averaged  963  pounds  when  weighed  at 
the  ranch  on  the  morning  of  July  6,  1914.  After  a  ten-mile  drive  to 
Coyote  and  twenty-four  hours  on  the  cars  they  weighed,  when  un- 
loaded at  Davis,  an  average  of  883  pounds. 

For  the  first  two  days  at  the  University  Farm,  the  steers  received 
nothing  but  long  alfalfa  hay.  On  the  morning  of  July  10th.  they 
were  started  on  alfalfa  silage  with  which  was  mixed  rolled  barley. 
No  hay  was  fed  for  the  two  following  days,  in  order  to  accustom  tie' 
steers  to  the  silage.  On  July  12th  hay  was  again  fed  and  the  ration 
from  this  time  on  consisted  of  alfalfa  hay,  alfalfa  silage  and  rolled 
barley.  Throughout  the  experiment,  the  silage  and  grain  were  fed 
rather  late  in  the  morning  and  evening,  and  though  not  eaten  immedi- 
ately, practically  all  was  consumed  by  the  next  feeding  time.  The 
hay  was  fed  separately  twice  a  day  in  hay  racks. 


The  alfalfa  hay  fed  during  the  greater  part  of  the  experiment  was 
good  second-cutting  hay,  clean  and  free  from  weeds.  The  silage, 
as  stated,  was  made  from  the  first  cutting  of  alfalfa  and  contained 
a  large  proportion  of  weeds,  principally  foxtail.  A  botanical  analysis 
of  a  sample  of  the  silage,  made  by  Professor  P.  B.  Kennedy, 
showed  that  it  was  composed  of  over  55  per  cent  foxtail.  While  this 
may  not  represent  the  true  percentage  of  weeds  in  the  entire  lot  of 
silage,  it  is  believed  we  may  safely  assume  that  at  least  one-half  of 
the  bulk  of  the  silage  consisted  of  plants  other  than  alfalfa.  Many  of 
the  loads  were  quite  dry  as  filled  into  the  silo  and  considerable  water 
wras  added  after  each  load  and  also  after  the  silo  was  filled,  in  order 
to  improve  the  quality  of  the  silage. 

The  silage  as  fed  out  was  well  made,  of  a  dark  brown  color  and 
of  slightly  acidulated,  aromatic  flavor.  That  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
silo  was  more  moist  than  that  in  the  upper  part  and  was  apparently 
relished  best  by  the  steers.  While  most  of  the  silage  was  not  taken 
with  particular  relish,  it  was  always  eaten  up  clean,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  days  during  the  middle  of  July  when  a  layer  of  partially 
spoiled  silage  was  reached,  at  a  point  where  the  filling  of  the  silo  had 
been  interrupted  for  a  couple  of  days.  The  foxtail  heads,  which 
would  have  caused  great  trouble  in  feeding  the  alfalfa  as  hay,  were 
eaten  before  having  a  chance  to  dry  out. 

The  silage  was  sampled  once  every  week  for  determinations  of 
moisture  and  acidity  and  a  complete  chemical  analysis  of  the  mixed 
samples  was  made  by  Professor  M.  E.  Jaffa,  who  also  made  analyses 
of  the  other  feeds  used  in  the  experiment.  The  chemical  composition 
of  these  feeds  with  digestible  components  calculated  on  the  basis  of 
average  digestion  coefficients  is  shown  below. 

Chemical  Composition  of  Feeding  Stuffs,  in  per  cent 

Alfalfa  Alfalfa 

silage  hay  Barley 

Moisture    76.00  15.87  12.36 

Protein  3.40  11.32  10.37 

Fat    34  1.30  1.80 

Fiber 5.56  28.63  6.26 

Nitrogen -free    extract    11.72  35.85  66.61 

Ash  2.98  7.03  2.60 

100.00  100.00  100.00 

Volatile  acids  40  

Fixed   acids   .01  

Digestible  protein  1.29  8.38  7.27 

Digestible  carbohydrates  and  fat  8.28  40.17  68.20 

Nutritive  ratio  1:6.4  1:4.9  1:9.4 


The  feeding  test  was  started  on  July  20th  when  the  steers  had 
recovered  their  normal  fill.  The  experiment  progressed  without  im- 
portant incidents,  except  that  one  steer,  which  was  found  tubercular 
at  slaughtering'  time,  went  off  feed  and  failed  to  gain  in  weight.  The 
steers  on  the  whole  showed  a  marked  improvement  in  condition 
throughout  the  experiment,  and  with  the  exception  noted  all  were  in 
fair  condition  when  sold,  although  but  few  could  have  been  classed  as 
finished  for  market.  To  one  who  watched  the  steers  closely  from  day 
to  day,  it  seemed  that  now  and  then  a  steer  that  had  been  doing 
especially  well  would  stop  gaining.  The  apparent  explanation  of 
this  was  revealed  by  an  examination  of  the  carcasses  after  slaughter, 
when  it  was  found  that  there  were  accumulations  of  foxtail  in  the 
mouths  of  practically  all  the  steers.  This  condition  suggests  that 
had  the  experiment  continued  much  longer,  trouble  might  have  de- 
veloped as  in  the  case  of  foxtail  hay,  and  emphasizes  the  necessity  for 
cutting  the  alfalfa  for  silage  before  the  foxtail  beards  become  hard. 
From  August  21st  on,  only  one-half  feed  of  silage  was  fed,  the  amount 
of  barley  being  increased  by  two  pounds.  The  trial  brought  to  a 
close  on  September  3rd,  when  the  silage  was  fed  out. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  main  results  of  the  trial : 

Weight  of  steers  July  6  at  shipping  point 963  lbs. 

Weight  of  steers  July  8  off  cars  at  Davis  '. 883  lbs. 

Weight  of  steers  July  20  at  University  Farm  971.2  lbs. 

Weight  of  steers  Sept.  3,  selling  weight  1041.08  lbs. 

Average  daily  gain  per  head  1.53  lbs. 

Hay  Silage         Barley 

Average  daily  ration  per  head  10.6  lbs.     20.2  lbs.     8.4  lbs. 

Feed  per  lb.  gain  for  the  period  of  46  days     6.9  lbs.     13.1  lbs.     5.4  lbs. 

The  composition  of  this  ration  on  the  basis  of  the  chemical  analyses 
made  was  as  follows : 

Dry  matter 21.13  lbs. 

Digestible  protein  1.76  lbs. 

Digestible  carbohydrates  and  fat  11.66  lbs. 

Nutritive  ratio  1:6.6  lbs. 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

The  steers  were  sold  on  September  3rd,  at  7  cents  a  pound  with  a 
3  per  cent  shrink.  In  the  following  financial  statement  of  the  feeding 
trial,  the  item  of  feed  eaten  includes  all  the  feed  which  the  steers 
received  from  the  time  they  were  bought  until  they  were  sold.     The 


prices  of  feeds  given  were  those  prevailing  in  this  locality  during  the 
past  summer,  except  that  of  silage  which  was  assumed  to  cover  the  cost 
of  production  only,  since  weedy  alfalfa  like  that  used  in  the  making 
of  this  silage  has  practically  no  value  for  feeding  as  hay  and  the 
silage  itself  has  no  established  market  value. 

Initial  cost  of  steers,  103,099  lbs.  at  6c $0,185.94 

Freight  from  Coyote  to  Davis  (4  cars  at  $33.04  per  car) 132.16 

Sanding  cars  2.00 

Commission  for  buying  107  head  at  50c.  per  head  53.50 

Interest  on  $6,373.60  at  8  per  cent  84.98 

Refund  on  account  one  tubercular  steer  47.60 

Feed  eaten:  31.4  tons  hay  at  $4.00  $125.60 

23.24  tons  barley  at  $18.50  429.94 

58.32  tons  silage  at  $1.25  72.90 

628.44 

Labor,  approximately  one-half  time  of  one  man  50.00 

Horse  and  wagon 15.00 

Total   cost $7,199.62 

Selling  price,  108,126  lbs.  at  7c 7,568.82 


Net  profit  on  entire  lot  $369.20 

Charging  against  the  steers  only  the  cost  of  feed  and  labor  and 
interest  on  the  money  invested,  as  would  be  done  by  a  man  feeding 
his  own  cattle,  the  profit  would  come  to  $556.86.  Charging  alfalfa 
hay  at  its  normal  market  value  of  $6  a  ton  in  the  stack  and  barley  at 
$21  a  ton,  there  would  still  be  a  profit  of  $436.06  from  the  feeding 
operation. 

This  trial  shows  that  silage  may  be  made  from  weedy  alfalfa  which 
would  make  but  inferior  hay,  that  such  silage  will  be  eaten  without 
waste,  and  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  supplementary  feed  for  fattening 
steers  on  alfalfa  hay  and  barley. 


